100+ Quotes by Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, is distinguished by his commitment to diplomacy, human rights, and humanitarian work. His presidency was marked by efforts to foster peace in the Middle East, promote energy conservation, and address economic challenges. Carter's dedication to human rights is exemplified by his role in brokering the Camp David Accords and advocating for international justice. Beyond his political career, Carter's tireless engagement in humanitarian endeavors, including Habitat for Humanity, underscores his belief in the power of empathy and action. His post-presidential work reflects a dedication to eradicating disease, improving global health, and advancing democracy. Jimmy Carter's legacy is that of a principled leader who continues to inspire through his unwavering commitment to making the world a better place.
Jimmy Carter Quotes
The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens. (Meaning)
The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. (Meaning)
We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles. (Meaning)
To be true to ourselves, we must be true to others. (Meaning)
Wherever life takes us, there are always moments of wonder. (Meaning)
Unless both sides win, no agreement can be permanent. (Meaning)
Too many of us now tend to worship self indulgence and consumption. (Meaning)
Aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease. (Meaning)
It's not necessary to fear the prospect of failure but to be determined not to fail. (Meaning)
Human identity is no longer defined by what one does but rather by what one owns. (Meaning)
I have one life and one chance to make it count for something... My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.
A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity.
The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens.
What are the things that you can't see that are important? I would say justice, truth, humility, service, compassion, love...They're the guiding lights of a life.
We cannot be both the world's leading champion of peace and the world's leading supplier of the weapons of war.
America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense human rights invented America.
All I want is the same thing you want. To have a nation with a government that is as good and honest and decent and competent and compassionate and as filled with love as are the American people.
We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.
The test of a government is not how popular it is with the powerful and privileged few but how honestly and fairly it deals with the many who must depend on it.
America has no functioning democracy at this moment.
Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his teachings about multiple things - he never said that gay people should be condemned. I personally think it is very fine for gay people to be married in civil ceremonies.
Failure is a reality; we all fail at times, and it's painful when we do. But it's better to fail while striving for something wonderful, challenging, adventurous, and uncertain than to say, " I don't want to try because I may not succeed completely.
I believe that anyone can be successful in life, regardless of natural talent or the environment within which we live. This is not based on measuring success by human competitiveness for wealth, possessions, influence, and fame, but adhering to God's standards of truth, justice, humility, service, compassion, forgiveness, and love.
It is difficult for the common good to prevail against the intense concentration of those who have a special interest, especially if the decisions are made behind locked doors.
If you fear making anyone mad, then you ultimately probe for the lowest common denominator of human achievement.
One of the most serious problems that our country has inherited an unwillingness to talk to anyone who disagrees with us or who won't accept, before a discussion, all the premises that we demand.
We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.
Everyone has a right to peaceful coexistence, the basic personal freedoms, the alleviation of suffering, and the opportunity to lead a productive life.
We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes - and we must.
I've never won an argument with my wife; and the only time I thought I had I found out the argument wasn't over yet.
I'd like to be remembered as someone who was a champion of peace and human rights.
When people are intimidated about having their own opinions, oppression is at hand.
Every act of energy conservation is more than just common sense: I tell you it is an act of patriotism.
Because we are now running out of gas and oil, we must prepare quickly for a third change, to strict conservation and to the use of permanent renewable energy sources, like solar power.
We know that a peaceful world cannot long exist, one-third rich and two-thirds hungry.
America has always been a country of innovation and dynamism, entrepreneurship. And I think that one of the things that has made our country great too is its heterogeneous population where people come here from all over the world.
Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries.
Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself
War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.
Every advance in this half-century-Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another-came with the support and leadership of American Labor.
The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.
For the first time in the history of our country the majority of our people believe that the next five years will be worse than the past five years.
I hate to see complacency prevail in our lives when it's so directly contrary to the teaching of Christ.
We should live our lives as though Christ were coming this afternoon.
We live in a time of transition, an uneasy era which is likely to endure for the rest of this century... During this period we may be tempted to abandon some of the time-honored principles and commitments which have been proven during the difficult times of past generations. We must never yield to this temptation. Our American values are not luxuries but necessities - not the salt in our bread but the bread itself.
Wherever life takes us, there are always moments of wonder.
I have often wanted to drown my troubles, but I can't get my wife to go swimming.
There's always an element of self delusion among people who believe they ought to be President. There's an underestimation of your opponent and an overestimation of your own abilities. This is compatible with being rich and powerful, the idea that we were blessed by God because we deserve to be blessed.
Go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is.
Too many of us now tend to worship self indulgence and consumption.
Always tell the truth, and take an interest in serving the people around you as much as possible.
Many of the most highly publicized events of my presidency are not nearly as memorable or significant in my life as fishing with my daddy.
We are of course a nation of differences. Those differences don't make us weak. They're the source of our strength.
I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history... The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me.
One of the most basic principles for making and keeping peace within and between nations. . . is that in political, military, moral, and spiritual confrontations, there should be an honest attempt at the reconciliation of differences before resorting to combat
The election of Barack Obama was a very wonderful step forward for America, which has unfortunately been tainted by the ugly reaction of some right wing activist who are doing their best to cast aspersions on his character and to question his religion and citizenship.
God always answers prayers. Sometimes it's 'yes.' Sometimes the answer is 'no.' Sometimes it's 'you gotta be kidding.
I think there ought to be a strict separation or wall built between our religious faith and our practice of political authority in office. I don't think the President of the United States should extoll Christianity if he happens to be a Christian at the expense of Judaism, Islam or other faiths.
Because (grandparents) are usually free to love and guide and befriend the young without having to take daily responsibility for them, they can often reach out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations.
This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. It is widespread. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths.
Life is just too short to go quail hunting with the wrong people.
When I was in the White House, I was confronted with the challenge of the Cold War. Both the Soviet Union and I had 30,000 nuclear weapons that could destroy the entire earth and I had to maintain the peace.
Everyone who has run knows that its most important value is in removing tension and allowing a release from whatever other cares the day may bring.
In the final analysis, true justice is not a matter of courts and law books, but of a commitment in each of us to liberty and mutual respect.
Unless both sides win, no agreement can be permanent.
You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.
The existing and long-standing use of the word 'evolution' in our state's textbooks has not adversely affected Georgians' belief in the omnipotence of God as creator of the universe, There can be no incompatibility between Christian faith and proven facts concerning geology, biology, and astronomy. There is no need to teach that stars can fall out of the sky and land on a flat Earth in order to defend our religious faith.
We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.
To work for better understanding among people, one does not have to be a former president sitting at a fancy conference room table. Peace can be made in the neighborhoods, the living rooms, the playing fields, and the classrooms of our country.
The founding of our Nation was more than a political event; it was an act of faith, a promise to Americans and to the entire world. The Declaration of Independence declared that people can govern themselves, that they can live in freedom with equal rights, that they can respect the rights of others.
When I was president, I announced and I still maintain that I can live with Roe v. Wade. I did everything I possibly could as president under that ruling, which I don't think ought to be changed, to minimize the need for abortions. I think every abortion is a result of a horrible series of errors on the part of people involved.
Each of us must rededicate ourselves to serving the common good. We are a community. Our individual Fates are linked; our futures intertwined; and if we act in that knowledge and in that spirit together, as the Bible says: "We can move mountains."
Faith implies a continuing search, not necessarily a final answer.
Spirit is like the wind, in that we can't see it but can see its effects, which are profound.
In order for us human beings to commit ourselves personally to the inhumanity of war, we find it necessary first to dehumanize our opponents, which is in itself a violation of the beliefs of all religions. Once we characterize our adversaries as beyond the scope of God's mercy and grace, their lives lose all value.
Throughout my life, I've seen the difference that volunteering efforts can make in people's lives. I know the personal value of service as a local volunteer.
I want to make it clear,if there is ever a conflict [between environmental quality and economic growth], I will go for beauty, clean air, water, and landscape.
Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this Nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally. On the battlefield of energy we can win for our Nation a new confidence, and we can seize control again of our common destiny.
We've got to stop crying and start sweating, stop talking and start walking, stop cursing and start praying. The strength we need will not come from the White House, but from every house in America.
You can not divorce religious belief and public service. I've never detected any conflict between God's will and my political duty. If you violate one, you violate the other.
The truth is that male religious leaders have had - and still have - an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter.
Our laws were not designed to accommodate three or four thousand refugees coming here per day. Our laws were designed for people to be screened in a foreign country, carefully catalogued, and brought here a few at a time. This just didn't happen.
I am convinced that UFOs exist because I've seen one.
And so I say to you and to others around the world, whether they wish us well or ill - do not underestimate us Americans. We lack neither strength nor wisdom.
It would be almost politically suicidal for members of Congress to espouse a balanced position between Israel and Palestine, to suggest that Israel comply with international law or to speak in defense of justice or human rights for Palestinians. If they did so, they couldn't be reelected.
It's not necessary to fear the prospect of failure but to be determined not to fail.
The abuse of women and girls is the most pervasive and unaddressed human right violation on earth.
Communicating our questions, hopes, and fears in prayer makes them-even to ourselves-more open and clear.
We have seven and a half times as many people in prison. And we have eight times as many black women in prison now as we did in 1981, when I left the White House. So that's been one of the major concerns I've had as a non-lawyer, to criticize the American justice system, which is highly biased against black people and poor people. And it still is.
I believe that the boycott that we have against Cuba is counterproductive, and it also makes the twelve million or so Cuban people suffer unnecessarily just because of a foolish policy of the United States.
Two centuries ago our nation's birth was a milestone in the long quest for freedom, but the bold and brilliant dream which excited the founders of our nation still awaits its consummation. I have no new dream to set forth today, but rather urge a fresh faith in the old dream.
Human identity is no longer defined by what one does but rather by what one owns.
Aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease.
I think the Bible is completely inspired by God in its overall messages. But, for the people of those days to know what was going to happen 4,000 years later in a world of astronomy or subatomic particles.
Billy Graham is one of my great lifetime heroes. I think he epitomizes the essence of what a Christian leader should be. I have participated in some of his crusades a couple of times in Atlanta. I've seen the profound impact he's had on me personally, and on other people who were not Christians and accepted Christ as Savior.
I'm a peanut farmer at heart, still grow peanuts on my farm in Georgia.
I am not going to use the federal government's authority deliberately to circumvent the natural inclination of people to live in ethnic homogeneous neighborhoods.
Jerry Falwell can go straight to hell - and I mean that in a Christian way.
It's abominable, and it's a disgrace to a great democracy to see what's happened in our country. The main reason for that has been the enormous infusion of high quantities of money to campaigns - governors, Congress, president and the U.S. Senate.
I believe there is complete equality between men and women. And I believe those passages in the New Testament, not by Jesus, but by Paul, that say women should not adorn themselves, they should always wear hats or color their hair in church - things like that - I think they are signs of the times and should not apply to modern-day life.
The stronger the ties that bind us to God, the more likely we are to live, react, and behave in harmony with...greater joy, peace, and happiness.
I've looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me.
Iām not in favor of the government mandating a prayer in school because our country was founded on the fact that no particular religious faith would have ascendance over or preferential treatment over any other.
When we go to the Bible we should keep in mind that the basic principles of the Bible are taught by God, but written down by human beings deprived of modern day knowledge. So there is some fallibility in the writings of the Bible. But the basic principles are applicable to my life and I don't find any conflict among them.
Trust is very much a part of our democracy.
One of the greatest concerns that I had when I became President was the vast array of nuclear weapons in the arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union and a few other countries, and also the great proliferation of conventional weapons, non-nuclear weapons, particularly as a tremendous burden on the economies of developing or very poor countries.
We've lost an edge that we used to have in scientific innovation applications to goods to be sold. In many ways, that is also changing in the electronic field. Almost all of the materials that we use now are of advanced technology, I have an iPad and also an iPod, both of which are made in China. Although we have designed them here with Apple, for instance, they are manufactured overseas.
For this generation, ours, life is nuclear survival, liberty is human rights, the pursuit of happiness is a planet whose resources are devoted to the physical and spiritual nourishment of its inhabitants.
I am no big shot. I am not anybody's boss. I want to be everybody's servant.
Earlier in my life I thought the things that mattered were the things that you could see, like your car, your house, your wealth, your property, your office. But as I've grown older I've become convinced that the things that matter most are the things that you can't see -- the love you share with others, your inner purpose, your comfort with who you are.
To me, Faith is not just a noun but also a verb
A fundamentalist can't bring himself or herself to negotiate with people who disagree with them because the negotiating process itself is an indication of implied equality.
In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we've discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We've learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose.
Last year I was on Pat Robertson's show, and we discussed our basic Christian faith - for instance, separation of church and state. It's contrary to my beliefs to try to exalt Christianity as having some sort of preferential status in the United States. That violates the Constitution. I'm not in favor of mandatory prayer in school or of using public funds to finance religious education.
I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over.
Our decision about energy will test the character of the American people and the ability of the President and the Congress to govern this Nation. This difficult effort will be the moral equivalent of war, except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not to destroy.
We believe in separation of church and state, that there should be no unwarranted influence on the church or religion by the state, and vice versa.
To be true to ourselves, we must be true to others.
America does not at the moment have a functioning democracy.
I believe in the separation of church and state. The government has the right to say what happens in a civil case, like in a court house. And religious people have a right to say what happens in a church congregation. They are two completely separate things.
Our goals are also the same, to have a just system of economics and politics, to let the people of the world share in growth, in peace, in personal freedom, and in the benefits to be derived from the proper utilization of natural resources. We believe in enhancing human rights. We believe that we should enhance, as independent nations, the freedom of our own people.
Sadat was a great and good man, and his most bitter and dangerous enemies were people who were obsessed with hatred for his peaceful goals.
Habitat has opened up unprecedented opportunities for me to cross the chasm that separates those of us who are free, safe, financially secure, well fed and housed, and influential enough to shape our own destiny from our neighbors who enjoy few, if any, of these advantages of life.
It was the darndest thing I've ever seen. It was big, it was very bright, it changed colors and it was about the size of the moon.. We watched it for ten minutes, but none of us could figure out what it was. One thing's for sure, I'll never make fun of people who say they've seen unidentified objects in the sky.
We have a tendency to condemn people who are different from us, to define their sins as paramount and our own sinfulness as being insignificant.
A joyous occasion is never quite as wonderful as when it becomes a memory.
I would describe fundamentalism as, first of all, a movement led almost invariably by authoritarian males who consider themselves to be superior to others and who have an overwhelming commitment to subjugate women and to dominate their fellow believers.
We don't have any problem finding enough things to do; the problem we have is making sure we don't overload ourselves inadvertently.
A country will have authority and influence because of moral factors, not its military strength; because it can be humble and not blatant and arrogant; because our people want to serve others and not dominate others. And a nation without morality will soon lose its influence around the world.
I believe there is complete equality between men and women.
I think the most challenging thing for me in my life and in the Bible is that we worship Jesus as the Prince of Peace. And America is constantly at war.
I don't believe that Jesus would approve abortion except in the case of incest, rape or the mother's life in danger. But I had to enforce the Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade so I tried to do everything I could to minimize the need for abortions.
The respect for human rights is one of the most significant advantages of a free and democratic nation in the peaceful struggle for influence, and we should use this good weapon as effectively as possible.
God wisely designed the human body so that we can neither pat our own backs nor kick ourselves too easily.
You always get back much more than you give.
We simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern ourselves, and faith in the future of this Nation. Restoring that faith and that confidence to America is now the most important task we face.
There's no doubt that the Christian right has gone to bed with the more conservative elements of the Republican Party. And there's been a melding in their goals when it comes to the separation of church and state. I've always believed in the separation of church and state.
I just look at death as not a threat. It's inevitable, and I have an assurance of eternal life.
Whether the borders that divide us are picket fences or national boundaries, we are all neighbors in a global community.
I believed what my father taught me about the separation of church and state, so when I was President I never invited Billy Graham to have services in the White House because I didn't think that was appropriate. He was injured a little bit, until I explained it to him.
I am pro-Israeli, not because of political expediency, but because I believe Israel is the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.
I think I was identified as a failed president because I wasn't re-elected.
We cannot resort to simplistic or extreme solutions which substitute myths for common sense.
I have never been happier, more exhilarated, at peace, rested, inspired, and aware of the grandeur of the universe and the greatness of God than when I find myself in a natural setting not much changed from the way He made it.
When I reflect upon my blessings during my very nice lifetime, I am inspired to make sure that I spend the balance of the days of my existence in a productive way.
In the bible homosexuality is condemned, but along with divorce and greed and callousness toward poor people. So its elevation to a highest priority among some religious groups has been very disturbing to me.
One of our nation's greatest leaders of all time was Hubert Horatio Hornblower.
Thoughtful criticism and close scrutiny of all government officials by the press and the public are an important part of our democratic society.
I believe that we are given an order by Jesus. One of the last things he did was to spread the word of God and he being the basis for our salvation. Christians are supposed to be evangelicals. And I am.
There is a strong religious commitment to the sanctity of human life, but, paradoxically, some of the most fervent protectors of microscopic stem cells are the most ardent proponents of the death penalty.
ā Jimmy Carter Quotes
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
